Brighton's not big enough for two pizza daddies, suit charges

A man who bought a pizza place called Big Daddy's on Western Avenue in Brighton in June is suing the brother of the man he bought it from for setting up a place called Big Daddy's Famous Pizza just 2 1/2 miles away on Chestnut Hill Avenue, saying the saucy move is costing him dough by confusing even some of his more loyal customers.

In a trademark and unfair-competition suit filed yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court, Navdeep Singh's Ghotra Bros. LLC, says it bought the Western Avenue Big Daddy's in June from Steven Weinstein, who had been running the place since 1985. Ghotra Bros. alleges that Weinstein told him that part of the deal was that the name was registered for exclusive use in Massachusetts, that he had registered "Big Daddy," "Big Daddy Pizza" and "Big Daddy's Restaurant" with the Secretary of State in 2003.

But, the complaint continues, just before Ghotra Bros. took over Big Daddy's, Weinstein's brother, Glenn, set up shop as Big Daddy's Famous Pizza, with an address of 356 Chestnut Hill Ave. That's the same address as the Circle Pizza and Tavern, which moved into the space in 2019, two years after the trouble-plagued Agoros shut. On a visit today, the storefront still shows the place called the Circle, as does the city's food-license database. However, one of the phone numbers listed on the window of the restaurant's semi-detached pizza stand is the same as that listed on the Big Daddy's Famous Pizza Web site. Records at the Secretary of State's office show Big Daddy's Famous owned by an LLC headed by Glenn Weinstein's wife, set up on June 29.

But even without any apparent physical storefront, the owner of the Western Avenue Big Daddy's charges, he is losing business, because so many people now order food online - and the Chestnut Hill Avenue's online storefront is drawing clicks away from the Western Avenue place:

Many customers of the Plaintiff have been misled to believe when searching on-line and ordering food for pick-up that they have been ordering from the restaurant located at 436 Western Avenue, Brighton, Massachusetts when in fact they have ordered from the restaurant at 356 Chestnut Hill Avenue, Brighton Massachusetts.

These customers have complained to the Plaintiff that they have ordered food on-line for pick-up and when the customers present themselves at the 436 Western Avenue, Brighton, Massachusetts location, they have been disappointed and confused to discover they are at the wrong restaurant.

The complaint alleges Glenn Weinstein ignored a cease-and-desist letter from Ghotra Bros.' attorney, forcing the concern to go to court, where it is asking a judge to issue a temporary injunction to make Weinstein stop the alleged nonsense until at least a jury can hear the case, after which, assuming the jury agrees Weinstein is in the wrong, he can be barred permanently from using the name and made to pay damages.